Rick Riordan has released an excerpt from his upcoming short story The Son of Sobek. The short can be found in the paperback version of The Serpent’s Shadow.
Son of Sobek by Rick Riordan
How exciting is this!? Fans have been clamoring for a crossover story from Riordan ever since he released the Kane Chronicles series with hints that both the Egyptian gods and the Greek gods actually exist in the same world.
It isn’t the novel everyone was hoping for, but it is an awesome start. Percy Jackson meets Carter Kane, and they bond over the hunting of a crocodile. To tell you the truth, we wouldn’t expect anything less from Riordan. And, as we hoped, it opened the door for some awesome humor: “What happened to your sword? It’s all bent.”
Too bad we have to wait until May 7 for the book to be released in the paperback version. But you can still pre-order it on Amazon.
Now, this doesn’t necessarily take the place of a crossover novel, and after a short story like this, we’re sure fans will be clamoring for more. The crossover novel is not something that’s set in stone, but Riordan did say that after he gets done with the Heroes of Olympus series and the Norse mythology series he has in mind, he may think about doing something that involves several of our favorite demi-gods.
Update: On Riordan’s blog, he tells fans that if they already have The Serpent’s Shadow to not worry about buying the paperback version in order to get the story. It’ll be released later as an e-book and an audiobook – read by Rick Riordan himself – this summer. He also stresses that this only applies to the U.S. and that he doesn’t yet have information about international markets.
The short story runs about 40 pages and will be priced accordingly when it is released separately from The Serpent’s Shadow.
More ‘Percy Jackson’ news
Riordan will be attending BookExpo America on May 31 as a part of the Children’s Book & Author Breakfast. At the breakfast, Riordan and several other prominent authors will be discussing their books and the publishing industry, among other topics. Riordan in particular will be discussing House of Hades.
House of Hades will be released on October 8, 2013 and is the fourth book in the Heroes of Olympus series, a follow-up to Mark of Athena, which released last year.